Sub builder General Dynamics Electric Boat has been awarded a $696.2 million contract modification for long-lead materials for the next for Virginia-class submarines – the first of the Block V attack boats.

The Virginia-class Block V submarines will be longer than previously built Virginia-class subs, to accommodate four Virginia Payload Module tubes, which will each contain seven Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAMs).

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I know it could be 20 years from now but looking beyond the Virginia class I wonder if we will return to a larger SSN along the lines of the Seawolf class in response to Chinese SSN developments?

A larger diameter is very possible. Not so much in response to PLAN, but because SSNs are going to be asked to carry a lot more. We're already seeing this with Bock V, which has been stretched (a lot by SSN standards) to fit more payload tubes.

I know it could be 20 years from now but looking beyond the Virginia class I wonder if we will return to a larger SSN along the lines of the Seawolf class in response to Chinese SSN developments?

A larger diameter is very possible. Not so much in response to PLAN, but because SSNs are going to be asked to carry a lot more. We're already seeing this with Bock V, which has been stretched (a lot by SSN standards) to fit more payload tubes.

It's been reported that Virginia-class, even with the VPM, is already running out of room for Block VI and VII improvements. In addition, there's talk about about extending the Columbia production for SSGN's.

It's not much of a stretch to start wondering if we can we leverage this hot Columbia boat production line for SSN(X).

General Dynamics Electric Boat is spending about half of its previously announced $1.7 billion multi-year capital expenditure plan on upgrading its Groton, Conn. manufacturing facility to accommodate building the new Columbia-class nuclear powered ballistic missile submarine.

Last week, Electric Boat officials and Connecticut’s governor announced an economic development plan including $852 million on upgrades to the Groton facility, and corporate spending in-state potentially worth billions more during the life of the program.

New machinery is being purchased and the company plans to build a third dry dock and manufacturing superstructure to house construction of the new Columbia-class. Electric Boat is also pledging to increase annual spending to more than $500 million on parts and material from some 700 Connecticut-based suppliers, said Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy, in a statement released last week.

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WASHINGTON — The Navy marked a milestone Friday for the ship named after the famously ornery and uncompromising father of the nuclear-powered Navy, Hyman G. Rickover, as the Navy burns its way through the latest iteration of the Virginia-class attack submarine.

At a ceremony at General Dynamics Electric Boat in Connecticut, the Navy celebrated the laying down of Rickover's keel.

"Adm. Rickover’s gift to our Nation’s defense — safe, reliable, and militarily superior naval nuclear propulsion — is as vital to our warfighting edge today as it was at the beginning of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program 70 years ago," said Naval Reactors head Adm. Frank Caldwell, who now holds Rickover's old job. "The U.S. Navy and our nation are proud to honor his achievements and legacy with this submarine."

Rickover is the fourth boat in the 10-ship Virginia-class Block IV, which is primarily designed to reduce by one the number of major overhauls the ship needs in it's lifetime, adding a deployment in the process. The first boat of Block IV, the Vermont, is headed towards it's christening later this fall, according to a release from Naval Sea Systems Command.

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Chinese government-sponsored cyber thieves stole hundreds of gigabytes of data related to sensitive Navy undersea warfare programs from a government contractor earlier this year, a defense official familiar with details of the breach told USNI News on Friday.

The official confirmed details reported in a Friday afternoon story in The Washington Post in which hackers took “614 gigabytes of material relating to a closely held project known as Sea Dragon, as well as signals and sensor data, submarine radio room information relating to cryptographic systems, and the Navy submarine development unit’s electronic warfare library.”

The data is described in the story as sensitive but not classified.

When contacted, Navy spokesman Lt. Marycate Walsh would not confirm the accuracy of the Post report but provided a statement on general cyber intrusions.

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WASHINGTON ― Courtesy of BAE Systems, some Virginia-class submarines will be able to pack a bigger punch.

The U.S. Navy has granted a contract to British company to produce payload tubes for two of the service’s Block V Virginia-class subs. Each will be extended in length with an additional mid-body section to create additional room for payloads and, in turn, for greater firepower.

One large-diameter payload tube can store and launch up to seven Tomahawk cruise missiles. The four new tubes per sub will add to the existing firepower of the two large-diameter, 87-inch Virginia Payload Tubes on the bow, each capable of launching six Tomahawk cruise missiles

87" diameter? D5 prompt global strike missile?

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Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.

WASHINGTON ― Courtesy of BAE Systems, some Virginia-class submarines will be able to pack a bigger punch.

The U.S. Navy has granted a contract to British company to produce payload tubes for two of the service’s Block V Virginia-class subs. Each will be extended in length with an additional mid-body section to create additional room for payloads and, in turn, for greater firepower.

One large-diameter payload tube can store and launch up to seven Tomahawk cruise missiles. The four new tubes per sub will add to the existing firepower of the two large-diameter, 87-inch Virginia Payload Tubes on the bow, each capable of launching six Tomahawk cruise missiles